Heroes
by aversive5599
Summary: "They were heroes." She says,"But I wish they didn't have to be."


Prompt: Sasusaku Month Day 1, Heroes

Summary: Her parents were heroes. She selfishly wishes that they didn't have to be.

Note: So I'm not sure who exactly the enemy will be Boruto so that's a little vague but none the less. Also umm… _Sorry?_

When Sasuke first tells Sarada the story about her uncle Itachi she is fifteen years old. She cries through most of it not for herself but for her father, her uncle and her entire clan. Then she gets angry. Angry at Konoha, angry at her parents for not telling her and angry at herself for being ignorant for so long.

But in the end she's just filled with an overwhelming sense of pride as she says,"Uncle Itachi was a true hero."

"Your uncle was a hero Sarada." He agrees with her but his eyes are sad,"But I wish he didn't have to be."

The attack happens so suddenly that nobody has time to blink.

One second everything was fine and the next Sarada's world had turned on it's axis violently, her village, her home thrown into chaos.

While the Chunnins had all been on guard with most of the village elders gone she hadn't expected things to go so wrong so fast and after an hour of continuous fighting Sarada finally thinks this is the end when her enemies blade looms over her and she's too chakra depleted and injured to defend herself.

But then _her_ hero arrives.

Armed with nothing but pink hair, large jade eyes and a punch, her mother sends the enemy flying back. But this is a small victory for the larger more eminent threat still looms over them threatening to destroy everything they know.

Sarada's knees wobbled making her stumble but someone catches her, supporting her weight.

"Sarada!" A voice calls out frantically as her vision blurs and she can vaguely make out that along with her mother Boruto had arrived too.

"Boruto?" She asked faintly,"Mama?"

"I can't spare anymore chakra but I've stop the bleeding and closed most of the wounds." She tells Sarada and then looks at Boruto once she's done healing her daughter,"You have to get her out of here safely."

"But Aunt Saku-" Boruto started but her mother put her hand up as if to stop him.

"This is not your fight Boruto, not while I'm here." She says,"Right now it's your job to save Sarada and the civillians who don't have the means to defend have to get them clear of the village."

Her mother turns towards her and there is something so utterly sad in those green eyes but before Sarada can understand she's pulled into a tight hug that smells like... _home_.

"Sarada, I'm so _so_ proud of you." Her mother mutters,"You know that right?"

"Of course." Sarada groans,"But mama you're squishing me."

Her mother pulls back sheepishly and apologises,"Sorry."

Sakura then nods at Boruto who picks Sarada up,"Keep her safe."

Her mother turns around and it's then that the devastating realisation of what her mother is trying to do sets in.

"Wait what- mama _no_!" Sarada manages to say and her mother freezes.

"No. No. NO!" Sarada screams trying to claw out of Boruto's strong arms around her,"Mama PLEASE! LET ME -"

"Boruto." Sakura said clenching her fists keeping a straight face,"Take care of my daughter." His grip on Sarada tightens who was sobbing uncontrollably and heartbreakingly.

"I love you." Her mother smiles, but Sarada can see the tears in her eyes and hear the finality in her tone,"Thank you for being my daughter Sarada."

And everything goes black.

By the time Sasuke arrives he knows it's already too late. He'd hurried as soon as he'd sensed something was wrong but he'd been too far away to make it in time. Sarada was already in the relief camp that was set

Sakura, Sakura, Sakura, her name rings in his mind and her chakra is easy enough to find in a Konoha that is painfully quiet. The scars of the devastating battle that has reduced the once peaceful village are everywhere and at the heart of it all the perpetrator lies dead.

But she was still alive, _waiting_ , waiting like she always had for him, propped up against a crumbling wall covered in blood, her purple diamond no longer present but a weak smile gracing her beautiful features that even death couldn't take away from her.

"Can you heal yourself?" He asks desperately but he knows her answer before she gives him a sad smile as she says,"I'm sorry."

Sasuke immediately bends down wrapping her arm around his shoulders his mind analysing the best possible plan to get her to safety, to a medic, but the irony is not lost on him when he realises that in this situation the only medic who would be able to heal Sakura was Sakura herself.

But that didn't matter. He would not give up.

"Anata." It's all she can manage and he turns to her, her steady green eyes holding his mismatched ones steadily.

Understanding courses through him and his resolve crumbles pathetically. His heart beats erratically and he feels like it's been torn out of his chest.

"I'm sorry." She repeats.

Mismatched eyes meet green and suddenly his black eye shift to a blood red and the world around them fades.

Instead they are thirteen and Sasuke is leaving the village. Once again Sakura runs after him, she screams that she loves him so much that she can't stand it and she vows to give him happiness and promises him that he would not regret it.

Only this time he hugs her and promises her that he'll stay. That he won't leave her.

It plays out like a movie after that. Sakura still trains under Tsunade in Konoha, there is no war, Naruto is still irritating, Kakashi is still a pervert but this time around Sasuke loves Sakura as he should have from th

He smiles at her like she's his world, he goes on countless dates, holds her hand and _never lets go._ Itachi comes back to the village and they get married and Sarada is born surrounded by all their closest friends and family.

Sasuke stays to become the chief of police in Konoha and watches his daughter grow up. They have a happy, mundane life together where Sasuke always greets Sakura after a long tiring day in the hospital.

"Welcome home." He says tucking her hair behind her ears.

She wraps her arms around him and kisses him,"I'm home."

Sarada becomes Hokage like no other and she carries on the Uchiha legacy with her fathers pride and her mothers compassion.

And Sasuke grows old with Sakura after he gives her the life that she truly deserved.

He gives her the life he wanted with her.

And then once again they're thirteen standing in front of that bench.

Except it's Sakura who is leaving this time.

And once she goes, Sasuke knows she'll never come back.

"You stayed." Sakura says smiling softly,"You stayed in the village for me."

She stands ahead of him a few metres apart her pink hair flying in the gentle breeze that blows through the moonless night.

"It's what I should have done." Sasuke responds firmly.

She smiles at him faintly and closes the distance separating them. She puts her palms on either side of his face and says ,"I'd love you in any version of reality Sasuke-kun. May it be the one where you stayed or the one you left. You're you, no matter what you do, no matter what you become."

"Don't leave me." A strangled gasp escapes his lips and his panic shakes up the very foundation of the genjutsu they're in.

"I'm so in love with you, I can't stand it." She whispers the same words she'd said all those years back and even now they hold just as true if not more.

"Me too." He says quietly.

"Did you regret it?" Sakura asks taking a step back her hands behind her back, a bright smile on her face,"Being with me?"

He shakes his head,"Never. Not one second."

She takes another step back.

"I'd promised to give you happiness." She says and takes another step back, "Was I able to?"

"You are my happiness." He responds,"You and Sarada are everything to me."

"You know I'll do anything for you Sasuke."

But she already has.

"You're annoying." He grumbles and she laughs out loudly her voice ringing out clearly in the night. He smiles.

"Yes." She says, "I suppose I was a lot of things."

"But not weak." He says," _Never_ weak."

Her eyes widen and tears spring to her eyes.

"Sakura." He says and there are a million things he wants to say, stay, don't leave me, I love you,love you but instead he simply says,"Thank you."

And for the last time ever Sakura Uchiha smiles. But this smile is different. This is a smile that she can only give him, a smile that's because of him, for him. It's a smile that will never fade, it's a smile that encompasses her compassion, her strength and her love.

"For what?" She asks faintly.

For Sarada.

For loving me.

For waiting for me.

For never giving up.

For being you.

 _Thank you for…_

 _"Everything."_

The genjutsu breaks and Sasuke catches his wife and places her gently on the bench.

And then he kisses her goodbye.

Just like he'd done all those years ago.

Sakura may have been the one who died that day but Sarada had lost both her parents that day.

Outwardly Sasuke remains unaffected to most people, he's now undoubtedly in charge with the seventh hokage missing, the sixth hokage injured and with the greatest medic in all five nations dead all the responsibilities fall squarely on his shoulders.

He doesn't bend or break and sometimes people wonder if he'd ever even loved his wife. But that's because they had never seen the extent of his love for her, the softness of his eyes and the kindness in his voice whenever she was there.

But Sarada, Sarada knew.

After all it had been her who had found him, clutching her Mama's body crying so devastatingly that Sarada had to stop wonder if this was the man she'd known to be her father. But as her eyes sharpened, her Sharingan evolving itself to the pattern of a Mangekyo she saw all those things she'd missed before.

And she saw the large crack in the soul of a man who was broken beyond repair.

That day when she cried beside her Mama, she cries for the loss of her best friend, her hero and the man her father was.

And then comes the day that Sasuke finally falls in battle.

Boruto weeps and weeps over losing his sensei but Sarada just sits there holding her fathers hand in his last moments and giving him a soft bright smile that reminds him so much of his wife.

"Say hi to Mama for me." Sarada says softly,"As much as I want to I'll only be able to join you after living a long life where I've set everything straight."

It's a promise to him.

It's a promise to her mother.

Their sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

"I'm proud of you Sarada." He says faintly,"You've got your mothers strength and your uncles kindness."

"And I've got your heart." She says softly. The heart that had loved her and her mother quietly and endlessly.

Her father raises his hand and weakly and taps her on her forehead,"I'm sorry there won't be a next time."

That day Boruto inherits her father's katana and his cloak while Sarada carries her mothers strength and her fathers his eyes she sees the world as he saw it, filled with cherry blossom pink hair, green eyes and ever present smiles. Through her strength she protects the things she cares about bravely and unflinchingly.

And with their love she lives a life they would be proud of.

 _"Your grandparents were heroes." She tells her children years later with a far off look in her eyes,"But I wish that they didn't have to be."_

I think I died a little while writing this. Excuse me while I go and cry myself back to life. But this is the fic that I'm undoubtedly the proudest of. I know it's a bit early but none the less, Reviews are always appreciated and HAPPY SASUSAKU MONTH.


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